Revisiting community-based traditional irrigation systems in India
Several scholars, policy think tanks and advocacy groups have advocated for reviving community-based traditional irrigation systems. Traditional irrigation systems are conceptualised as sustainable and resilient alternatives to large irrigation infrastructures. But do traditional irrigation systems...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844025000647 |
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| author | Kumar Gaurav Prabhakar Sharma Aviram Sharma |
| author_facet | Kumar Gaurav Prabhakar Sharma Aviram Sharma |
| author_sort | Kumar Gaurav |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Several scholars, policy think tanks and advocacy groups have advocated for reviving community-based traditional irrigation systems. Traditional irrigation systems are conceptualised as sustainable and resilient alternatives to large irrigation infrastructures. But do traditional irrigation systems always represent just, sustainable, and resilient alternatives? Based on interviews, focus group discussion, ethnographic fieldwork, and archival research, the paper offers a nuanced socio-historical understanding of one such community-based irrigation system, aka the ahar-pyne system of South Bihar, India. The paper revisits the idea of a community-based irrigation system as a just and sustainable alternative. The paper critiques the conventional and uncritical framing of the traditional irrigation system as a just alternative, employing insights from the STS (science, technology, and society) and critical social science literature on caste and community. While critiquing the traditional irrigation system, the paper explores the epistemic and socio-cultural challenges related to the governance of traditional irrigation systems in today's time. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4e6ab3ce6bdf42eeb25b17c7f6bf0c3d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj-art-4e6ab3ce6bdf42eeb25b17c7f6bf0c3d2025-01-17T04:51:54ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402025-01-01111e41684Revisiting community-based traditional irrigation systems in IndiaKumar Gaurav0Prabhakar Sharma1Aviram Sharma2Department of Studies in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, Central University of Gujarat, Vadodara, Gujarat, IndiaDepartment of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, School of Engineering and Technology, Nagaland University, Dimapur, Nagaland, IndiaPost-Growth Innovation Lab, University of Vigo, Spain; Corresponding author.Several scholars, policy think tanks and advocacy groups have advocated for reviving community-based traditional irrigation systems. Traditional irrigation systems are conceptualised as sustainable and resilient alternatives to large irrigation infrastructures. But do traditional irrigation systems always represent just, sustainable, and resilient alternatives? Based on interviews, focus group discussion, ethnographic fieldwork, and archival research, the paper offers a nuanced socio-historical understanding of one such community-based irrigation system, aka the ahar-pyne system of South Bihar, India. The paper revisits the idea of a community-based irrigation system as a just and sustainable alternative. The paper critiques the conventional and uncritical framing of the traditional irrigation system as a just alternative, employing insights from the STS (science, technology, and society) and critical social science literature on caste and community. While critiquing the traditional irrigation system, the paper explores the epistemic and socio-cultural challenges related to the governance of traditional irrigation systems in today's time.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844025000647Traditional irrigation systemsWaterSubaltern communitiesBeldarsResource governanceSocial shaping of technology (SST) |
| spellingShingle | Kumar Gaurav Prabhakar Sharma Aviram Sharma Revisiting community-based traditional irrigation systems in India Heliyon Traditional irrigation systems Water Subaltern communities Beldars Resource governance Social shaping of technology (SST) |
| title | Revisiting community-based traditional irrigation systems in India |
| title_full | Revisiting community-based traditional irrigation systems in India |
| title_fullStr | Revisiting community-based traditional irrigation systems in India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Revisiting community-based traditional irrigation systems in India |
| title_short | Revisiting community-based traditional irrigation systems in India |
| title_sort | revisiting community based traditional irrigation systems in india |
| topic | Traditional irrigation systems Water Subaltern communities Beldars Resource governance Social shaping of technology (SST) |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844025000647 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kumargaurav revisitingcommunitybasedtraditionalirrigationsystemsinindia AT prabhakarsharma revisitingcommunitybasedtraditionalirrigationsystemsinindia AT aviramsharma revisitingcommunitybasedtraditionalirrigationsystemsinindia |